Nate's Proposal
by imaginationcraze
Summary: Nate proposes, what else is there to say? Part of the "Steps in Life" series. *Nominated for Indie CR Award.


_Nate's Proposal_

"Hey Caitlyn," Jason plopped himself down next Caitlyn on the couch. She was currently hugging her knees and a teddy bear in her hands while staring outside the window of the tour bus. Mitchie and Caitlyn had joined the band on tour as neither Shane nor Nate could stand being away from their girlfriends, and soon to be fiancés, hopefully.

"Hey Jase," Caitlyn answered him without looking away from the window.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked, since clearly something was bothering Caitlyn.

"I don't know," she paused, thinking about what to say, "I was just..." she sighed, "We've been dating for five years, I know that I'm ready for it..." she hugged her teddy bear, "I'm hoping that he'll ask, but... I don't know if he's ready for it."

"Well, do you think he is?"

"Yeah, how he acts around me and all..." she paused again, leaning her head on Jason's shoulder, "But every time we stop somewhere for the night, he runs off to somewhere..."

"You want to spend more time with him to find out if he feels the same way, but since he keeps running off to somewhere and you don't get the time."

"Exactly, I know we said that we'd wait until we were both ready, but I've been ready for months. I don't even know if he's ever going to ask me."

"It'll happen, just like the promise ring on your hand says." Caitlyn smiled weakly at Jason's attempt to cheer her up. "But what if he decides that this is how he wants to stay for the rest of his life?"

"As far as I've know, he's always wanted to have a happy ending with a wife and kids." Caitlyn smiled slightly.

"Sometimes, I've wondered if he's..." Caitlyn trailed off, not knowing how to voice her concerns. Jason sat up straighter from his position leaning on the couch.

"He'd never, that's just not the way Nate is. There is no possible way that he'd ever even think about cheating on you." Jason assured her, rushing out the words.

"I know, and I feel pretty stupid for thinking that he would." Jason sighed in relief, Nate and Caitlyn were meant for each other, in the eyes of MANY people.

_xxx_

Nothing was right, Nate couldn't believe it. He had searched for months, but he still hadn't found anything that would be a perfect match for Caitlyn. Every time the group stopped somewhere for the night, Nate went and scoured the city for all the jewellery stores it had. The rings either had too many stones on them for her taste or, they were just plain ugly. The rings wouldn't have looked nice on Caitlyn's slender piano playing fingers.

That was until one morning, when Nate had been looking at rings online did he see one that was perfect. It had a single lone diamond attached to a florally carved platinum ring, it was limited edition and only available in stores. The only one left was in Florida.

Nate called ahead to the store and asked them to hold onto it for him. The store told him that store policy meant that they couldn't hold anything for anyone, but after hearing Nate's story, the clerks agreed to make an exception and held onto the ring. Nate was extremely lucky that they were staying in Los Angeles for a week and were only having two concerts.

He quickly grabbed a shower and changed. Grabbing his keys and phone, he headed for the door, telling Big Rob where he was headed. Big Rob quickly told one of the nearby security guards to go with him. Nate had called the pilot earlier and asked for him to come, apologizing for the inconvience it might have caused him. Jerry told Nate that it was alright and promised to get to the airport as soon as he could. Soon enough, Nate had arrived in Florida and called a cab to the jewellery store.

_xxx_

"Mr. Black!" The clerk exclaimed, clearly surprised that he was here. "I thought you were in L.A., I didn't expect you to be here so soon."

"Well, it's sort of an engagement ring and I wanted to get it as soon as I could." The clerk smiled slightly at Nate's eagerness.

"Alright, I'll go get the ring, it's just in the storage room." The clerk called out to Nate as she headed to the back room. The clerk handed Nate the ring to look over, it looked even better in person. It was definitely the perfect ring for Caitlyn. He quickly paid for it and went on his way.

_xxx_

"Uh... guys, do you know where Nate is?" Caitlyn asked as she came out of Nate's room. "He's not in his room." Everyone answered that they hadn't seen him that morning. Shane quickly whipped out his phone and dialled Nate's number.

"Ugh, Nate, why won't you answer?" Shane's eyes widened as he remembered a very crucial detail. "None of us can get out of here with Rob knowing." Shane ran out the door and headed to Rob, followed by the rest of them. "Rob, do you know where Nate went?"

"Yes, but I was specifically told not to tell anyone."

"Oh come on!" Jason was frustrated, he wanted to know where his buddy had went.

"Please?" Mitchie asked in her sweet innocent voice.

"He pays my salary, I have to listen." Rob was clearly enjoying this as he played around with their minds.

"We pay your salary too, now tell us."

"All you need to know is that he is fine and well, I've sent some security guards to go with him, he's fine." The group groaned and nodded, then sulked their way back to their hotel room.

"Guys, hold on, I got a phone call." Mitchie called out as she pulled out her phone. "It's... from Nate."

"Well, put him on already!" Mitchie nodded as she answered the call with speakerphone, but before Mitchie could ever utter a word, Shane butted in,

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?"

"UGH! My ear's right next to the speaker you know."

"Sorry, but we needed to know where you are."

"Erm..."

"Nate, please, we need to know where you are." Caitlyn's voice broke as she spoke, she was worried about her boyfriend, it was a given.

"Can I talk to you alone, without all of them listening in?" The others sighed, they wanted to know up what was up with their friend, but obliged, Mitchie handed her phone over to Caitlyn and pushed the guys back towards their room.

"I'm worried, Nate. You keep running off, I don't know what to think."

"I'm sorry,"

"Can you at least explain to me why you keep running off?"

"Not right now," Caitlyn sighed, "But I'll make it up to you, tomorrow night, I promise."

"Fine, it better be good."

"It will, or, I hope it will. Can you give the phone back to Mitchie? I have something to ask her," Caitlyn nodded even though Nate couldn't see and handed the phone over to Mitchie.

"Nate, what'd you do to Caitlyn? She looks broken." Nate sighed.

"I know," Nate sighed, "but I have a good reason.

"And that reason is..."

"You know how I keep disappearing every time we stop somewhere?"

"Yeah,"

"I've been looking at all the jewellery stores in the city,"

"Jewellery stores? Why would you need to look for jewellery stores?"

"I've been trying to find the perfect ring for Caitlyn for months,"

"A ring... wait, you're trying to propose?" Mitchie screeched the last part.

"SH! Not so loud, supposed to be a surprise? Remember that part?"

"Sorry, but you are, aren't you?"

"Yes and the perfect ring is right here in Florida."

"So you're in Florida?"

"Yeah,"

"So why do you need me?"

"Well, I need a bit of help from you"

"What sort of help?" Mitchie asked, wondering where he was going with this.

"Well, you know Caitlyn's size and all that right?"

"Yeah..." Mitchie answered slowly.

"Well, I found this dress that I think would be perfect for her, but I wanted your opinion first."

"Send me a picture,"

"'Okay," Nate hung up and took a picture with his phone. He quickly sent the picture to Mitchie and waited for her reply.

"Nate!" Mitchie called out as Nate picked up the phone. "I can't believe you'd buy her such a dress."

"The dress is bad? I thought it was pretty nice..."

"Nate, I meant that in the good way, it's beautiful, and it'll look amazing on her, but did you think about how to get her to put the dress on?"

"I might have the latest version of her favourite mixing program next to me..." Nate said carefully. "And the laptop she's been meaning to get..."

"You were going to bribe her?"

"Yeah, but I was hoping it wouldn't get to that."

"Okay, okay, you have my opinion now, but I need something from you."

"Yeah?"

"Details! Come on,"

"Tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night? You aren't planning on proposing at McDonald's or something are you?" Mitchie was clearly surprised, it shouldn't take THAT fast to set things up.

"Far from it, I've had everything prepared for ages, I just needed to find the ring and set it up."

"So where are you planning on proposing?" Mitchie was curious as to what Nate had in store for her best friend.

"On a plane..."

"On a plane?"

"Yeah, on a plane."

"Why'd you pick a plane?"

"Because when we were thirteen, we watched this movie and there was a guy proposing to a girl on top of a mountain overlooking the city. Caitlyn told me that when she grew up, she'd want to be proposed to the same way, except on a plane. She loved the sights she saw while she was on a plane. She told me it was the only good part of having divorced parents, getting to see the world from above."

"Aw... and you remembered that?"

"Yeah, the planes going to be circling over L.A. for a while, pretty low over the city so it won't disturb other planes."

"You're a whole lot more thoughtful than people give you for, Nate."

"Thanks, I think..." Mitchie laughed.

"It's a good thing, Nate."

"Think she'll say yes?"

"Of course, just get back here soon, before they want to kill you for going out like that."

"Okay, see you later," and with that the conversation was closed.

Outside the door, Caitlyn stood, thinking about the fact that her boyfriend would called Mitchie instead of herself and Shane stood, pissed that he'd call Mitchie instead of his best friend. The anger diminished however, when Mitchie told him what Nate had wanted, not in the vicinity of Caitlyn, of course.

_xxx_

After the afternoon concert, the group headed back to the hotel. Before Caitlyn went into her room, Nate pulled her aside with a bag in his hands. He handed it to her, "Put this on please?" He asked her, hoping that she would agree. She opened the bag, it had two boxes inside. She pulled one out and opened it, gasping as she pulled it out. It was the most beautiful dress she had seen. It was a strapless dark grey dress with a silver waist band and black sequins. Caitlyn nodded to Nate that she would wear the dress and Nate leaned in close and gave her a kiss on the cheek, whispering to her to be ready by seven, before walking back to his room.

Caitlyn opened the door to the room that she shared with Mitchie. Mitchie smiled at Caitlyn's awestricken face, she knew that Nate had given her the dress. Mitchie stood up from her spot on the bed and pushed Caitlyn towards the bathroom, "Go on, get ready for your date."

By seven, everything was in place and Nate made absolute sure that he had the ring in his pocket and that it wouldn't be falling out anytime soon. He knocked on the door of Caitlyn's room and Mitchie opened it. She smiled at him and wished him luck before heading to Shane's room, leaving a clear view of Caitlyn.

Nate's breath was taken away by the beauty standing in front of him. The dress certainly did look amazing on Caitlyn and her hair was left in its natural curls with a few strands pulled back from the front. She looked stunning, which of course, left Nate gawking at her as she blushed from Nate's face. Nate shook himself out of his trance and offered her his arm.

"Shall we?"

"We shall," she smiled at him as he walked her to his car. He helped her in and drove off.

"Where are we going Nate?"

"You'll see, I think you'll like it." They soon arrived at the airport, leaving Caitlyn to wonder what Nate had planned for their evening. He helped her out of the car, as a gentleman would, and led her to Connect 3's private jet. She gasped as they entered the jet. Placed in the middle of the jet were two chairs and a table with a single red rose in a small vase. Nate helped her sit down and once they were both settled, the plane took off into the sky. As the plane settled in the air, Nate got up and headed to the back to get their food. He fetched two plates of mac and cheese with ketchup like a smiley face and two cups of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.

"Like it?" Nate asked, seeing her smile at the simplicity of the food, although it didn't quite match their outfits, he knew Caitlyn would rather be eating this than 'rich people food' as she called it.

"Love it," she replied, grinning as he handed her a fork. The two continued eating and talked from nothing to everything, enjoying their night together. Soon enough, they had finished eating and were just cuddling on a couch set to the side. Caitlyn sighed to herself, and she realised, that it didn't really matter if Nate never asked her, as long as she had him, she'd be happy. Nate looked at Caitlyn when she sighed, and an idea sprung up in his mind. He got up and walked to the stereo and turned it on, he made his way back to Caitlyn and held out his hand.

"May I have this dance?" She nodded and accepted his hand, and he pulled her up.

The two began their dance, Caitlyn soon rested her head on Nate's chest as they continued to dance, Nate stealing kisses along the way. As the song ended, they slowed down and Nate took a deep breath, it was now or never. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little box that would decide his fate. He pulled away from Caitlyn and knelt down on one knee slowly, holding one of Caitlyn's hands in his as her other hand went to her mouth in shock. He pulled out the ring and held it up to her,

"Caitlyn, we've been dating for years, I love you. I'm positive that you're the only woman I'll ever love and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I'm hoping it goes both ways, Caitlyn Rae Gellar, will you marry me?" Tears had sprung in her eyes by now, she nodded, unable to say anything. Nate slipped the ring onto her finger and got up and hugged her, ultimately kissing her.

"Nothing would make me happier," Caitlyn whispered to him.

"The same goes for me," he whispered back.


End file.
